December 2018: Alexander McCall Smith

To wrap up the year, we'll read some Alexander McCall Smith. Use this space to discuss what books you've read by him and which ones you plan to read this month!

Well, I'm ahead of the curve but ....


The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café – Alexander McCall Smith
Audiobook performed by Lisette Lecat
3***

Book # 15 in the popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series has the ladies investigating a case of amnesia. In the meantime, Mma Grace Makutsi has decided to open a new restaurant, “The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café” and she’s not inclined to take advice from anyone.

I love this series. I feel like I’m spending time with old friends when I open one of these books and become immersed in their lives in Gabarone, Botswana. Precious Ramotswe is ever the diplomat, gently steering her protégé (and now, “co-director”) towards solutions and tempering Mma Makutsi tendency to tactlessness. The supporting cast is a delight as well: Mr. J L B Matekoni, Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Potokwane, and Charlie.

The cases the agency works on are less important in this series than the relationships between the characters. While they are still sold in the mystery section of the bookstore, I don’t really classify them as mysteries. But who cares. They’re a delight in any case.

Lisette Lecat does a marvelous job of voicing these audiobooks. She really brings the characters to life. I read the first three books before discovering her marvelous audio interpretations. I imagine if I read a text version again, it would be Lecat’s voice I hear.

>2 BookConcierge: That's funny, that's the title I'm up to in that series also! Lisette Lecat is a fantastic narrator; if I end up getting any of the books in print, I end up 'hearing' it in her voice when I read.

It's officially December! (I'm still in denial. Where did September, October and November go??)

As mentioned above, I plan on reading The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe, as soon as I'm done with my current read.

In the past I've read books 1-14 in that same No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Overall, I like the series, although they've gotten a little bit stuck in a rut (e.g., same old jokes). Did anyone watch the HBO series that was loosely based on the early books?

Previously I also read McCall Smith's modern re-telling of Jane Austen's Emma and didn't think he particularly did a great job with that. His rare stand-alone novel La's Orchestra Saves the World was a touching WWII historical fiction, although not without its faults.

Sometime over the years I acquired the first book in McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series, but I haven't yet been able to convince myself to start yet another lengthy series by this author.

I know it's a busy time of year, but anyone else reading Alexander McCall Smith titles this month?

I'm almost done with The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe. It has flaws but it's enjoyable overall.

I read The Quiet Side of Passion, the newest entry in the Isabel Dalhousie/Sunday Philosophy Club series. Pretty good with some interesting musings, although I can't say a lot of it stuck with me (read at the beginning of the month).

i've never read him but am pretty impressed with how many series he has going at once, and how often he puts books out. i know they're all different and all, but to keep at least 4 series totally separate seems tough.

>7 overlycriticalelisa: Yes, his output is prolific! I'm always impressed by that as well.

Here's my review of The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe as well, even though >2 BookConcierge: sums it up nicely.

Many staffing changes are afoot at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, with Mma Makutsi's new position and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni having to consider his staffing options as his budget tightens. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi is also busy with the purchase of a new building, which she plans to open as a swanky restaurant.

This long-running series has gotten a little bit old as I get further into it, but this title was a pretty good one. Although there are some flaws as well as some redundancies, it does feel like things actually happen in this book and it is not just a re-hashing of the same handful of jokes. The cases themselves are light (there is really only one true case, and then there is the mysterious evasiveness of Mma Makutsi's new chef) and the principal characters do very little action to solve these, but the overall feel of the book makes up for it. The characters and setting are nice to return to again, and it was good to mix up some of my darker and/or denser reads with something lighter.